Hellenic Police

Four major universities have so far agreed to accept a protection team that will help stamp out chronic lawlessness at the country's campuses.

Officers of the Hellenic Police (ELAS) issued more than 1,000 fines and made six arrests on New Year's Day alone over violations of health safety measures, ELAS said in an announcement on Saturday.

According to ELAS' press release, officers carried out a total of 57,498 inspections, including 13,159 at Athens International Airport.

The permanent presence of police officers on university premises is proving taboo for professors, administrative staff and some student groups, judging by reactions to the government's proposals for campus security.

As part of ongoing efforts to ensure that safety protocols are being adhered to, the Hellenic Police (ELAS) said on Friday that it had conducted a total of 77,940 inspections around the country on New Year's Eve and recorded 1,668 violations, for failure to wear a mask or observe physical distancing.

Police said 9,247 of the inspections were conducted at Athens International Airport.

Visiting the mooring facilities of the Hellenic Coast Guard on the island of Lesvos on New Year's Eve, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his gratitude to the men and women of the Coast Guard, the Hellenic Navy and the Hellenic Police for their efforts in guarding the country's sea borders.

More than 10,000 police officers will be deployed throughout the country for New Year's Eve in order to ensure compliance with the measures for preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The restrictions will be similar to those imposed for the Christmas holiday but police checks will be more intensive.

The senate of Panteion University is opposing the government's proposal for the creation of a special campus security force comprised of police officers that will operate under the orders of the Hellenic Police (ELAS) and the Citizens' Protection Ministry.

A truck driver was arrested on Monday in Lykovrisi, northern Athens on charges of transporting and smuggling drugs into Greece after amounts of cocaine and hashish were found in his vehicle.

According to the Hellenic Police (ELAS), the suspect, a foreign national, said he was a truck driver transporting products between European countries.

A special plan with the assistance of anti-terrorist units and the participation of more than 4,000 police officers has been drafted by the Hellenic Police (ELAS), under the instructions of the Civil Protection Ministry, for the storage of the coronavirus vaccines.

The body of a man who had been shot in the head was found in the parking lot of a health center in Kalyvia, eastern Attica on Wednesday.

According to reports, the man, aged between 50-60 and an employee of the health center, was inside the vehicle when he was shot.

Hellenic Police (ELAS) investigators are working on the assumption that he was ambushed.